Complicated Heart
by blufox
Summary: [SenRu] To wait for a companion in a meeting who is already an hour late can really piss one off and cause one to lose both his patience and mercy. But for one man, waiting can take for as long as a lifetime.


**Title:** Complicated Heart

**Pairing:** SenRu of course.

**Summary:** To wait for a companion in a meeting who was already an hour late can really piss one off and cause one to loose both his patience and mercy. But for one man, waiting can take for as long as a lifetime.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Slam Dunk. Nor do I own the title of this fic. (Sigh)

**Author's Notes:** I was inspired to write this series because of Michael Learns to Rock's song tilted "Complicated Heart". Listen to it, it's a very good song. XD

**Complicated Heart**

**Prologue: Still Waiting**

**By: Blufox**

Rukawa smiled contentedly as he sat under the old maple tree. The same old maple tree he had been visiting for quite a long time. The same old tree where he had been waiting for /him/ to come back. The same old tree where he stayed and spent most of his time which he latter considered as an extension of his home.

It was utterly odd to think that, he Rukawa Kaede, would grow up old as an ordinary man in the land of Japan. Everybody would have thought 60 years ago that he would have gone to the United States to pursue his basketball career—but he didn't.

Rukawa Kaede, a 77 year old man, grew up to live an ordinary life—away from fame, money and power. He lived his life ordinarily, but with meaning.

Once again, he opened the tattered old paper he had been opening for the past 60 years and smiled at the sight of it. Once again, he read every word of it as if hearing the words of the man who gave it to him. Once again, he read every word of it as if everything that happened 60 years ago were happening again—right then, right there. Once again, he read every word of it as if he was falling for the man he had loved 60 years ago. Once again, he read every word of it, as he once more—like all of the days that had gone by in the past 60 years of his life, felt the presence of the man he had been thinking and loving for a very long time.

A tear dropped down his cheek as he folded the letter he had been carrying for a long time. He smiled and waited there until he saw the sun setting down.

It was a familiar site in Shohoku District to see him wait there for the past years. At first, it was a site to see, but it eventually became ordinary as Rukawa gradually changed from a known and well-respected person to a person who is silently waiting for the love of his life to return.

It's not that the people didn't love him anymore. In fact, a lot of people learned to love him more. He was no longer the man who glared at every damn thing his eyes had seen. He was no longer the man who seemed to hate the world so much and lock himself up in his own world. He was no longer that man when /he/ came in Rukawa's life.

Rukawa, quitted playing basketball 60 years ago. Well, it's not like he started to hate basketball. It just so happened that he learned to realize that there's life after basketball. He learned to realize how much he had missed due to his obsession on this sport. Still, he was still thankful that he had learned and loved basketball before he actually quitted playing it. It was in basketball where he learned the true meaning of love and passion. It was through basketball where he met the people who changed him from an asshole to a person who actually _cared_.

Rukawa pursued a career which was far from what was expected from him when he was still in Shohoku High but the people around him supported him—and he was thankful for that. He was now a well known business man, a top executive in Japan's number one product. Now, the only thing missing in his life is for /him/ to come back—just like /he/ promised.

Rukawa positioned himself to sleep and enjoy the presence of the wind just like the old days when /he/ was still with him. When he was about to sleep he heard something that was utterly familiar to his ears which allowed his lips to curve up a little.

"Kaede-jisan!" a kid suddenly shouted thus destroying the silence that was enveloping the whole place. Rukawa turned weakly towards the direction of the annoyingly, yet cute sound of his grandson.

"Kaede-jisan! Hana-jisan had been looking for you for quite a long time" the kid said. He stopped to see if Rukawa was still awake, when he saw that Rukawa was listening, he continued, "I told him you'd be here, but he didn't listen! Grandma Haruko had been scolding him because he was so persistent telling her that you'd be in a basketball court!"

Rukawa smiled as he continued to listen to his grandson—well basically Sakuragi and Haruko's grandson, but since those two became his family for quite a long time, then Little Kyosuke is considered as his grandson—as he self-proclaimed. After the long blabbering of Kyosuke the only words Rukawa managed to say were "Do'aho." Kyosuke laughed hard as he heard Rukawa say these words. When the laughter slowly vanished, the mood suddenly changed.

The wind started to blow so hard which allowed Rukawa's hair to fly with it. Both men enjoyed the silence they where experiencing until Kyosuke broke the silence. "Kaede-jisan?" he said. Rukawa looked at Kyosuke and gave him a look—as if encouraging him to continue. Kyosuske, being a smart kid unlike his real grandpa (1) continued and said "Will you tell me about Akira-jisan again?"

Rukawa's eyes widened in shock but managed to recover in an instant. "Why Kyosuke?" he asked.

"I just want to hear it again, jisan. I know that you're here cause you're still waiting"

Rukawa then smiled and said "It all happened 60 years ago when…"

T. B. C.

Author's Notes:

(1) No offense meant guys. Haha. I'm not an Anti-Sakuragi writer or whatever you call it. Haha. It just so happened that I find it cute and better if Kaede and Hana would be keeping their "love-hate" relationship. Haha. By using the word "love"—what I really want to say is in terms of friendship, mind you. XD

Well there. That's basically it. So review and please support me. XD


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